Mumbai: In yet another twist, BJP leader Mohit Kambhoj Bharatiya on Saturday charged that one Sunil Patil from Dhule, who is allegedly closely associated with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leaders, including former home minister Anil Deshmukh, is the “mastermind” of the Aryan Khan drug case. Also, Patil had prior knowledge of the rave party that was scheduled on the cruise liner, which was raided by NCB's Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede on October 2.
Kambhoj further claimed that Patil is linked with others whose names had cropped up in recent weeks -- Sam D'Souza, Kiran Gosavi, Prabhakar Sail and Manish Bhanushali; "they work as a syndicate," he charged. "They are all Patil's associates. I have been sent audio-video clips and WhatsApp messages of theirs and forwarded them to the probe agencies," Kambhoj said.
He claimed that a conspiracy was hatched to defame the BJP and accused NCP leader Nawab Malik of "scripting a false narrative.''
“Who are the Maharashtra ministers who goaded Sunil Patil into hatching the conspiracy? They need to answer,” Kambhoj charged.
Malik, in turn, rubbished the claims. The NCP leader responded in a tweet. “Mohit Kamboj+His Biggest Expose=Flop. A member of Sameer Wankhede’s private army just held a Press Conference to misguide and divert the attention from truth, albeit unsuccessfully. I will reveal the truth tomorrow,” he said.
Kambhoj further charged that Patil was running a transfer postings racket within the Home Department from 1999 to 2014. "Patil had a suite booked in Hotel Lalit for months. There were big parties with 'sharab, shabab and kebab' for those attending... I will reveal more," he threatened.
According to Kambhoj, Patil, who is a friend of former state minister Anil Deshmukh's son Hrishikesh, boasted of his strong ties with the NCP leaders and how Anil Deshmukh had once allegedly met drug peddler, Chinku Pathan, an aide of mafia don Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, at a government guest house during lockdown. NCP needs to explain, Kambhoj asserted.
Meanwhile, Malik has said that he will reveal more on the Hotel Lalit episode on Sunday, even as some BJP leaders advised him to keep off the NCB and let the agency do its work. The NCP activists shared some pictures on their official social media handles where Patil and Gosavi were seen with Gujarat minister Kirit Singh Rana. Another picture showed Manish Bhanushali, a witness in the case, talking with him. The last one had Patil greeting Home Minister Amit Shah.
